scarrone



March 10, 1964 A. R. SCARRONE 3,124,35L

DEVICE FOR FEEDING WORK PIECES FOR PROCESSING Filed Nov. 29, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fmla.

March 10, 1964' A. R. SCARRONE 3,124,351

DEVICE FOR FEEDING WORK PIECES FOR PROCESSING Filed Nov. 29, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 1964 A. R. SCARRONE DEVICE FOR FEEDING WORK PIECES FOR PROCESSING 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 29. 1960 I IIIIII FIaQa.

III

March 10, 1964 A. R. SCARRONE DEVICE FOR FEEDING WORK PIECES FOR PROCESSING Filed Nov. 29, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG. 2b.

United States Patent 3,124,351 DEVICE FOR FEEDING WORK PIECES FOR PROCESSING Alfredo Ruben Scarrone, Santiago de Anca 1614, Montevideo, Uruguay Filed Nov. 29, 1966, Ser. No. 72,477 Claims priority, application Great Britain Sept. 13, 1960 3 Claims. (Cl. 271-34) The subject of this invention is a device for feeding work pieces in sheet form to any machine for processing the work pieces e.g. it may be utilised for feeding fabric bags into a printing machine, or it may be used in conjunction with the machine which is the subject of my prior Patent No. 2,845,885 to feed the sheets of fabric into the machine for forming into bags.

A device according to the invention comprises a fixed frame, a jib pivoted to the frame to be swingable between a raised and a lowered position, a circulatory belt system one end of which is adapted to circulate around a support carried by the frame and the other end of which is adapted to circulate around a support carried by the end of the jib remote from the frame, said belt system carrying means for entraining a work piece, means adapted to be actuated by each work piece for causing the jib to be raised or lowered, and means for disengaging the work piece from the belt system at one end of the belt system.

The means actuated by work pieces for raising and lowering the jib may comprise at least one pair of electrical contacts adapted to be separated by passage of a Work piece therethrough, the electrical contacts being in the circuit of a magnetically operated device e.g. a magnet or a solenoid coupled to the jib. The device may incorporate means for separating two layers of a folded work piece. Such means may consist of a roller the surface of which presents radially projecting bristles. The bristles may be animal bristles such as hair, synthetic bristles such as nylon, or metallic bristles such as wire. The roller is situated adjacent to the discharge end of the device i.e. the end remote from that to which the jib projects.

The device is preferably used in conjunction with a vertically movable table adapted to raise the pile of work pieces at intervals during operation of the machine.

A practical embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which FIGS. 1a and 1b combined show the device in side elevation and FIGS. 2a and 2b combined show the device in plan.

In the drawings, 1 denotes a fixed frame incorporating a support 2. Numeral 3 denotes a jib pivoted at 4 to the support 2, and 5 denotes the belts of a circulatory belt system one end of which wraps sprocket wheels 6 journaled in the support 2 and the other end of which wraps sprocket wheels 7 at the end of the jib 3 remote from the pivot 4, the chains 5 being guided on their flights by sprocket wheels 8. Numeral '9 denotes sharpened pins carried by and projecting from the chains 5 and adapted to entrain work pieces. The jib 3 carries arms 10 interconnected by a bar 11 coupled by a link 12 to the armature 13 of a solenoid 14. The bar 11 is also coupled to one end of links .15 penetrating an abutment 16 fixed to the support 2, the links 1L5 carrying stop nuts 17 to limit the distance the links may be withdrawn through the abutment 16 whereby to determine the lowermost position of the jib 3. Numeral 18 denotes slipper bars supported by the jib 3, the position of the bars 18 relative to the jib 3 being determined by lockable slide blocks 19. Numeral 20 denotes disengaging bars fixed to the support 2 and so located that the bars 20 make an acute angle with the adjacent flight of the chains 5. Numerals 21 and 22 denote feelers engageable with the under surface of a work piece being fed through the device by the chains 5, the feelers 2 1 and 22 being adapted to operate switches 23 and 24 respectively connected in the circuit of the solenoid 14, the connections being such that the solenoid 14 is energised when the feeler 21 is operated and remains energised even when the end of the work piece passes clear of the feeler 21, the solenoid 14 becoming de-energised only when both feelers 21 and 22 are clear of a work piece.

Numeral 25 denotes a table vertically movable in vertical guideways 26, the table 25 being connected to chains wrapping sprocket wheels, the sprocket wheels at the upper end of the supports 26 being mounted on a shaft 27 to which is fixed a ratchet wheel 28 engageable by a pawl 29 mounted on the outer end of a crank arm 30 swingable about the axis of the shaft 27. The pawl 29 is adapted to be engaged by a bar 31 swingable about a pivot 32 by actuation of a solenoid 33 whereby to cause the pawl 29 to be brought into or out of engagement with the ratchet wheel 28. The outer end of the crank arm 30 is pivoted to one end of a connecting rod 34 the other end of which is mounted on a crank 35 attached to a shaft 36 carrying a spur wheel 37 engaging a spur wheel 38 mounted on the shaft 39 carrying the sprocket wheels 6 wrapped by the driving chains 5. Numeral as denotes a feeler the tip of which is engageable with the top of a pile of work pieces lying on the table 25, the feeler 4% being carried by a support 4-1 and being adapted, when swung a predetermined distance in the direction towards the table 25, to break the circuit of the solenoid 33 to de-energise the solenoid 33 whereby to cause the bar to swing in the direction to cause the pawl 29 to engage the ratchet wheel 28. Numeral 42 denotes a detent engageable with the ratchet wheel 28 to prevent retrogressive motion of the ratchet wheel 28.

Numeral 43 denotes a roller mounted on the shaft 39, the surface of which roller 43 presents radially projecting bristles adapted to grip the top layer of a folded Work piece as the roller 43 rotates.

In practice, a device as described is placed with its fixed frame 1 adjacent to the machine to which work pieces are to be fed and Work pieces to be fed successively by the device are placed in a pile on the table 25. When starting, the jib 3 is at its lowermost position as shown in FIG. 1 with the adjacent end of the lower flights of the chains 5 constituting the belt system resting on the topmost work piece and the pins 3 presented by the chains 5 projecting into the work piece. The slipper bars 18 where provided are so adjusted by moving the blocks 19 in the jib 3 that the pins 9 project a predetermined distance beyond the bars 18. When the chains 5 are set in circulation the lower flight moves towards the discharge end of the device i.e. the end at the machine to which the work pieces are to be fed, and the work piece at the top of the pile on the table 25 is dragged off the pile. As the work piece moves through the device the leading edge of the work piece actuates the feeler 21 thereby causing the solenoid 14 to be energised so that the jib 3 is lifted by the link 12 clear of the pile of work pieces thus preventing a second work piece from being dragged off the pile before the first work piece has moved clear of the pile on the table 25. The work piece continues to be fed forward and as each portion of the work piece nears the delivery end of the chains 5 the disengaging bars 20, being in contact with the upper surface of the work piece and being at an acute angle to the adjacent portions of the chains 5, cause that portion of the work piece to be pressed clear of the pins as the work piece moves forward so that the work piece may continue in a forward direction and not be merely carried around to the upper flights of the chains 5. When the trailing end of the work piece clears the feeler 21 nothing happens, but when the trailing edge clears the following feeler 22 the solenoid means is de-energised and the jib 3 drops by its own weight so that the pins 9 presented by the chains engage the next work piece on the pile on the table 25. Work pieces are thus fed one after another from the top of the pile with a short interval between each work piece, the linear distance of this interval depending on the spacing of the feelers 21 and 22.

As Work pieces are withdrawn from the pile on the table 25 the feeler 40 swings downwardly, and when the top surface of the pile of work pieces approaches a level at which the pins 9 on the chains 5 would have difficulty in entraining the topmost work piece, the feeler 40 operates to cause the solenoid 33 to be de-energised so that the bar 31 drops to the position in which it permits the pawl 29 to engage the ratchet wheel 28. All the time the chains 5 are circulating the shaft 36 and the crank 35 mounted thereon are rotating and communicating an oscillatory movement by way of the connecting rod 34 to the arm 30. The pawl 29 carried by the arm 30 thus oscillates continuously all the time the device is in operation. When the pawl 29 is brought into engagement with the ratchet wheel 28 by swinging movement of the bar 31 the oscillatory movement of the pawl 29 causes the ratchet wheel 28 and the shaft 27 to rotate unidirectionally. The chains wrapping the sprocket wheels mounted on the shaft 27 then circulate in the direction to raise the table 25. When the table 25 has reached the desired elevation, the feeler 40, which had been swinging as the pile of work pieces on the table 25 was raised by the table, again operates to cause the solenoid 33 to be actuated to operate the bar 31 to cause the pawl 29 to be withdrawn from engagement with the ratchet wheel so that the table 25 stops rising even although the pawl 29 continues to oscillate.

Where the device is to operate in conjunction with a machine such as a bag making machine in which each work piece consists of a piece of fabric folded double it may be desirable to separate the two layers of the Work piece as they leave the device so that the work piece may be fed on to a guide bar which passes between the two layers. In these circumstances the bristles of the roller 43 grip the top layer of the work piece and as the roller 43 rotates it tries to carry the top layer of the work piece with it around the periphery of the roller. This action has the effect of lifting the adjacent portion of the top layer of the work piece clear of the lower layer of the work piece and permits the work piece to straddle a guide bar provided to hold the layers apart.

It is to be understood, however, that the above description represents a preferred form of my invention, and that some variations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for feeding work pieces from a pile for processing comprising a fixed frame, a jib pivoted to the frame, jib-raising means coupled to the jib for positively raising the jib between a de-actuated lowered position engaging the pile and an actuated raised position clear of the pile, at least one belt support carried by the frame, at least one belt support carried by the jib, a circulatory belt system circulating around said supports so that only that portion of the belt system supported by the jib is movable bodily with the jib, the other portion of the belt system not being bodily movable, means carried by the belt system for entraining each work piece successively, means adjacent said other portion of the belt system to be operated by each work piece for causing the jib-raising means to be successively actuated and then de-actuated, means for disengaging each work piece from the belt system located at the end of the belt system adjacent the frame, and a vertically movable table supporting the pile of work pieces located below the jib.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 in which the jibraising means in electromagnetic means and in which the means for causing the jib-raising means to be actuated comprises two switches operated in series by a work piece passing through the device, the connections of the switches to the electromagnetic means being such that when the first switch is operated by a work piece the jibraising means is actuated to raise the jib and the jibraising means remains actuated until the work piece is out of operational connection with the second switch whereupon the jib-raising means is de-actuated and the jib drops to its lowered position.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 and further having means for separating two layers of a folded work piece comprising at least one roller and bristles projecting radially from the surface of the roller, said bristles being engageable with the upper surface of the top layer of a folded work piece fed by the device.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 652,821 Vail et al. July 3, 1900 946,327 Bowlus Jan. 11, 1910 1,216,773 Campbell Feb. 20, 1917 1,772,580 Swift Aug. 12, 1930 2,432,133 Babicz Dec. 9, 1947 2,668,053 Bach Feb. 2, 1954 2,989,307 Weidenhammer June 20, 1961 2,992,820 Tarbuck et al. July 18, 1961 

1. A DEVICE FOR FEEDING WORK PIECES FROM A PILE FOR PROCESSING COMPRISING A FIXED FRAME, A JIB PIVOTED TO THE FRAME, JIB-RAISING MEANS COUPLED TO THE JIB FOR POSITIVELY RAISING THE JIB BETWEEN A DE-ACTUATED LOWERED POSITION ENGAGING THE PILE AND AN ACTUATED RAISED POSITION CLEAR OF THE PILE, AT LEAST ONE BELT SUPPORT CARRIED BY THE FRAME, AT LEAST ONE BELT SUPPORT CARRIED BY THE JIB, A CIRCULATORY BELT SYSTEM CIRCULATING AROUND SAID SUPPORTS SO THAT ONLY THAT PORTION OF THE BELT SYSTEM SUPPORTED BY THE JIB IS MOVABLE BODILY WITH THE JIB, THE OTHER PORTION OF THE BELT SYSTEM NOT BEING BODILY MOVABLE, MEANS CARRIED BY THE BELT SYSTEM FOR ENTRAINING EACH WORK PIECE SUCCESSIVELY, MEANS ADJACENT SAID OTHER PORTION OF THE BELT SYSTEM TO BE OPERATED BY EACH WORK PIECE FOR CAUSING THE JIB-RAISING MEANS TO BE SUCCESSIVELY ACTUATED AND THEN DE-ACTUATED, MEANS FOR DISENGAGING EACH WORK PIECE FROM THE BELT SYSTEM LOCATED AT THE END OF THE BELT SYSTEM ADJACENT THE FRAME, AND A VERTICALLY MOVABLE TABLE SUPPORTING THE PILE OF WORK PIECES LOCATED BELOW THE JIB. 